When the Supreme Court Ruled a Vaccine Could Be Mandatory

[Nevilledog]

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Kimberley Johnson
@AuthorKimberley
SCOTUS issued a landmark 1905 ruling that legitimized the government’s authority to “reasonably” infringe upon personal freedoms during a public health crisis by issuing a fine to those who refused vaccination.

When the Supreme Court Ruled a Vaccine Could Be Mandatory
A 1905 decision backing a city-issued fine for refusing the smallpox vaccination provided a powerful and controversial precedent for the flexing of government authority.
history.com
6:31 PM · Aug 1, 2021

https://www.history.com/news/smallpox-vaccine-supreme-court


In 1901 a deadly smallpox epidemic tore through the Northeast, prompting the Boston and Cambridge boards of health to order the vaccination of all residents. But some refused to get the shot, claiming the vaccine order violated their personal liberties under the Constitution.

One of those holdouts, a Swedish-born pastor named Henning Jacobson, took his anti-vaccine crusade all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation's top justices issued a landmark 1905 ruling that legitimized the government’s authority to “reasonably” infringe upon personal freedoms during a public health crisis by issuing a fine to those who refused vaccination.

In 1901, the city of Boston registered 1,596 confirmed cases of smallpox, a highly contagious, fever-inducing illness infamous for causing a severe rash on the face and arms that often left survivors scarred for life. In Boston alone, 270 people died from smallpox during the extended 1901 to 1903 outbreak. That’s why public health officials in Boston and neighboring Cambridge issued their compulsory vaccination orders, hoping to reach the 90 percent vaccination rate required for herd immunity.

Jacobson, who served as the pastor of a Swedish Lutheran church in Cambridge, had been vaccinated against smallpox in Sweden when he was 6 years old, an experience that he later said caused him “great and extreme suffering.” So when Dr. E. Edwin Spencer, chairman of the Cambridge Board of Health, knocked on the Jacobsons’ door on March 15, 1902, the pastor refused vaccination for himself and his son.

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[SheltieLover]

1. And delta is more contagious than smallpox (Dr. Ding) chicken pox (CDC) & the common cold (CBS)!

Fine should be extreme!!!

They are loterally killing people, including kids!

[Solly Mack]

2. Folks and their Constitutional rights always forgetting the Preamble.

One of the stated goals and aims of the Constitution - to promote the general Welfare.

That isn't a throw-away statement.

[UTUSN]

3. K& big R#5

[kskiska]

4. I've still got my smallpox scar on my arm.

My 7-yrs. younger sister got hers on her upper leg.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Did it work?

[Nevilledog]

6. Kick